The Herbs Behind the Waterfall
by Annaomi
Summary: Mabel wants to meet Mermando - but how? Consult Dipper's journal, of course! But will she abandon her family for her "true love", even as Mermando acts differently? Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Mabel watched her brother until he was asleep. When she was sure he was out, she hopped up and grabbed his journal.

"Zombies, no," she muttered to herself. "Gnomes, ew. Cursed doors? Interesting. Here we go!"

She stared at the merman/mermaid page, her finger following the words she was reading.

"Behind the waterfall," she read, "there are herbs that can turn you into a mermaid/merman. Mix it with a drink, two for it to be temporary and four for permanent."

Mabel grinned from ear-to-ear.

"Soos!" Stan screamed. "Would ya take the kids down to the lake? A busload of tourists just arrived!"

"You got it, Mr. Pines!" Soos cried. Within ten minutes, Soos and the twins were in the golf cart.

"Why did you want to go?" Dipper whispered.

"Lemme see your journal."

He handed it to her and she flipped to the appropriate page. Dipper gasped. "Mabel! You can't be serious."

"Dipper, this is my chance to be with Mermando!"

"Temporarily, right?" When she hesitated, Dipper said again, "Right?!"

She sighed. "Yeah. Fine. But-"

"Mabel, be serious! You're just infatuated!"

"Like you with Wendy!"

"Shhh! That's different! I'm not abandoning my family for her."

"Dudes," Soos announced, "we're here. Do ya just want me to drop you?"

"Yeah," Mabel said, ignoring Dipper's glare. "Thanks."

"Anytime, hambone."

Despite the disagreement between them, Dipper agreed to come with Mabel in a rowboat to the waterfall. He assumed he could convince her otherwise by then.

"How could you even get to him?" he muttered as they rowed.

"He's been sending me messages in a bottle," Mabel explained. "So we planned this."

"What if he doesn't come?"

"He will."

"Mabel, come on, this isn't a good idea."

"He's my true love!"

"You said that about Norman!" Dipper cried. "He turned out to be a bunch of gnomes who wanted a queen!"

"Mermando isn't a bunch of gnomes."

Dipper quit rowing. "I'm not helping you run away from your family."

She groaned but ignored him. They were silent for the rest of the way there.

"I found it!" Mabel cried, picking the herbs. "Quick! Hand me the cup I brought!"

"No," Dipper muttered.

She sighed. "I only have two…"

He watched her upset expression, cursed himself for being so soft, and handed her the cup.

"Where are you meeting him?" Dipper asked.

"Here. The little area behind the waterfall."

She filled her glass, put the herbs in, and drank it.

"Feel any different?" Dipper asked.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Maybe it takes-"

Mabel started to pass out and Dipper jumped to catch her. He carefully set her so she was sitting upright against the cave wall.

"Are you okay?" he demanded. She didn't answered. "Mabel! Wake up!"

Suddenly, her legs started to glow. Dipper jumped up and cried out in shock. He averted his eyes to the brightness, and when he looked back, she sat wide awake with a mermaid tail.

"Water!" she called hoarsely. "Roll me into… lake.…"

Dipper picked her up carefully and practically threw her in. She stayed below for a minute, then rose up, jumping majestically, splashing Dipper. Even in his sour mood he laughed.

"I'm a mermaid!" she cried. "Look, I've got a tail and everything!"

Dipper smiled. "So, when's Mermando getting here?"

"Mabel!" someone cried. Mermando swam under the waterfall and toward her. "You're here!"

She grinned. "Oh my gosh, you still have your crazy merman accent!"

He laughed as only he could. "It is Spanish."

Dipper shifted awkwardly. "Uh… so I guess I'll just be going to the 'Shack…"

Mabel didn't hear him. He sighed but climbed into his rowboat and back to the shore, promising Mabel he'd be back by midnight, when the herbs were supposed to wear off.


	2. Chapter 2

_[Hey guys, so the assumption is supposed to be that it's after the first season, so anything that happened there has happened, but Stan is going back and forth between the portals, making it appear that he's the same as always. This may not come up, I just wanted to clarify. Keep the reviews coming. Peace.] _

"What's the matter with you?" Stan asked as Dipper slunk past him.

"It's Mabel," Dipper muttered. "Remember her 'crush' from the pool?" He made quote signs with his fingers when he said "crush".

Stan shrugged. "Sure."

"She's meeting up with him and I'm afraid she's going to abandon us for him."

Stan smirked. "Women." He went back to staring at his TV show.

Dipper, assuming he wasn't going to get anymore help, went outside and sat on the porch, watching the woods, imagining all the strange beings he had encountered in them.

"Hey, doofus," Wendy said, sitting next to him. "Why the long face?"

He looked up at her. "Me? Upset? What? No, I'm perfectly fine! You don't have to worry at all!" He laughed awkwardly.

She watched him skeptically but nodded. "Alright, sure. Say, me and my friends are gonna hang out tonight at the lake. I heard you were going anyway, so you wanna hang with us?"

Dipper nearly jumped into outer-space. "Me? Really? Come with you guys?!"

"Yup."

"Um, okay, yeah! Definitely!"

She grinned. "Cool. Just meet us out front and we'll pile in the van."

"Sure! Okay! What time?"

She shrugged. "Midnight."

"Midnight? Umm..."

"Is that a problem?" Wendy asked. Her voice was chill but Dipper heard it as harsh. He started mentally freaking out.

'Well,' he thought, 'if I get there a little before midnight, I can tell them I'm going to bring them snacks or something, take Mabel home, and come back…'

He smiled. "I'll be there."

...

"I'm so glad to see you again!" Mabel cried. "And look! I have a tail!"

"Marvelous!" Mermando laughed. "It is as wonderful as the girl who it is attached to!"

"What!" Mabel laughed, splashing him. "You're being so nice right now."

Mermando smiled, but then it fell.

"What's wrong?" Mabel asked, putting her hand on his arm.

"Well," he said, "I was wondering… since you have the tail, would you care to come to the ocean and live with all the other mermaids?"

"Oh, Mermando," Mabel said quietly, "I'd love to, but-"

"There's plenty of room! The mermaids have houses that need to be filled. You could live there! Mermen do not use money; it will be free of charge."

"But-"

"And food is plentiful! You will never go hungry!"

"Dip-"

"There are plenty of friends you can make! You will never be lonely!"

Mabel hesitated to say anything.

"Think about it," Mermando said, "you've made some friends here, yes, but they're not always around. And Dipper didn't even want to help you."

Mabel watched him skeptically. "I didn't tell-"

Mermando took both of her hands. "You'll be happy."

She watched his expression, then turned away. "I-I can't. I can't abandon my family."

He sighed. "I understand."

He swam toward the waterfall, stopping right in front of it. Mabel watched his long hair dance underwater, the few beams of sunlight glistening around him.

"We could play Marco Polo," she suggested.

Mermando turned and grinned, and soon they were playing the game. During one round, Mabel sat at the bottom of the lake, hiding from him. She wondered why he was acting so weird.

...

"Mouth-breathing village idiots," Gideon muttered as a crowd gawked as his cuteness. He slammed open his house door.

Mrs. Gleeful washed dishes, silent as usual. She made no eye contact with her disturbed son, who passed by her without saying a word.

Gideon slammed his door and sat at his desk.

"Oh, Mabel," he sighed, picking up a picture of her. "Why'd you have to team up with your devilish brother? We could've been happy together."

He picked the Dipper doll he had crafted.

"Because I'm using her," Gideon said in a terrible interpretation of Dipper, "to get the journals. And now that I have them, I'm coming after you."

Gideon threw the doll across the room. "We'll see." He screamed, "I didn't get bailed out of jail for nothing!"

"Gideon!" his father cried, bursting into the room. "Keep it down! I'm trying to sell cars out here!"

"I can get rid of you, Old Man!"

His father paused, then shrugged and shut the door.

Gideon picked up his cellphone, typed in a few things, then said, "Bill Cipher."

A window-like thing appeared on the wall, not showing the outside but Bill.

"What?" he demanded, reclining as well as a triangle can on a beach chair.

"Help me seek vengeance on the Pines family!"

"Why should I?" Bill answered, bored with the conversation already.

"They defeated you once," Gideon said. "Do you really want that to happen again? You could get rid of them once and for all!"

Bill sat up. "Interesting. Alright. What do you want me to do?"

"First get the twins against each other."

Bill laughed. "Water under the bridge. Way ahead of you. Let me finish this part of my plot and from there we'll work together."

...

Dipper jumped up as the clock stroke midnight.

"Mabel won't mind if I'm a little late," he said to himself.

"Let's go!" Wendy cried as he ran out and into the van.

"Hey, it's the kid!" Thompson said.

"Where's Robbie?" Nate asked.

Wendy scoffed. "Ugh. Don't remind me. He's not coming."

"You still haven't forgiven him?" Lee asked as Thompson slammed on the pedals.

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Wendy muttered.

"Genius," Nate teased Lee, "she doesn't want to talk about it!"

"Your mom doesn't want to talk about it."

Dipper stared out the window.

"Hey, Dip," Wendy said, "what's up? You're usually talkative."

"Oh," he said, looking at her, "nothing! Hey, I, uh, know where they keep the snacks at the lake."

"No need," Nate said. "We brought some."

Dipper froze. 'Think!' he demanded himself.

Before he could say anything else, they pulled into the parking lot for the lake.

The boys pushed each other out of the van, Wendy cheering them on, and Tambry somehow flawlessly exiting the vehicle while still texting.

"I'll get us some canoes," Dipper offered.

"Right here!" Lee said. "Wendy, the kid's a helper."

She smirked and helped unload the picnic supplies they had brought. Dipper soon forgot about needing to get Mabel.

...

"You're glowing!" Mermando cried.

Mabel watched her tail light up.

"It must be midnight," she said, crawling onto land. She felt her legs (thankfully with a bathing suit on) stretch out and air fill her lungs.

"That's it?" Mermando said. "You can't come with me?"

Mabel watched his expression, then shoved four herbs into her pocket.

"Maybe," she said. "But I need to stay with my brother."

"Wasn't he supposed to come get you?"

Mabel paused and glanced at her watch. "He's just a little late…"

"Why don't you canoe back and meet him halfway? I'll swim with you."

She grinned and nodded, and soon they were headed back.

"I don't see Dipper," Mabel muttered.

"He must've abandoned you!" Mermando cried.

"What? He wouldn't have!"

"Why not? Look!"

As they came closer to shore, silhouettes formed. Even closer, Mabel could see Dipper laughing with Wendy and her friends. Dipper looked up for a second, saw Mabel's petrified face, said something to Wendy and motioned for Mabel to come to shore where the teens couldn't see them.

When she arrived, Mermando hid behind a rock. Mabel stormed up to Dipper.

"I'm sorry!" he cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"You forgot!" she screamed. "After that lecture about not abandoning your family for love, you forgot!"

"I meant to come!" he promised desperately. "Really!"

"Then why didn't you?"

Dipper gulped. "Wendy-"

"Wendy!" she cried. "Of course! You broke your promise, so I'll break mine. I'm taking all four herbs!"


	3. Chapter 3

_[Thanks for the reviews, guys! Keep 'em coming! :) God bless! Peace.]_

...

"Alright," Bill said, appearing suddenly in Gideon's room. Gideon nearly jumped through ceiling.

"What, demon?!" he demanded.

Bill smirked. "Awe, calm down, Gideon. The Pines twins have turned against each other."

Gideon watched Bill. "How'd you do it?"

"Well, I threatened one of their friends and possessed some others. Anyway, what's the plan now?"

Gideon smashed his fist over the Dipper doll. "I want that boy gone."

"And what will you give to me?" Bill asked.

"The journals. If we can get rid of the twins, we can get Stan. And I'm sure he has the journals. Just - don't hurt Mabel if you don't have to."

Bill nodded. "First, I'm going after the boy."

...

Dipper watched in horror as his sister canoed off to the waterfall. He was wading now after his attempt to come after her, but she was too fast.

"I need a canoe," he said to himself, and raced back to the teens.

They were all passed out.

"Wendy!" Dipper cried, running and kneeling next to her. He shook her until she sat up drowsily.

"Dipper?" she said weakly. "Wha… Why am I at the lake?"

"What happened?" Dipper demanded.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I was standing with my friends at the van… then something came and, like, took over our bodies. I don't remember anything after that."

"What came?" Dipper asked.

Wendy watched the lake, confused. "I-I don't remember. It was… like a pyramid…"

Dipper jumped up. "Bill! Oh man, this is bad."

"What happened?" Thompson asked, waking up. Lee and Nate sat up next to him. A moment later, Tambry woke up, checked her phone, and started texting.

"No time to explain!" Dipper cried. "Where's the canoe we were going to take out on the lake?"

Lee pointed to it, and Dipper pushed it toward the lake, despite the teens' protests.

He rowed faster than he ever had before. Mabel was still in sight. For some reason, she had stopped.

...

"Why'd we stop?" Mermando asked. Mabel noticed he had gone from confident to afraid.

"Dipper," she said, watching him kneel next to Wendy. "I knew that's all he cared about."

"Let's keep going," Mermando said, his voice shaky.

Mabel ignored him, watching her brother. She scoffed as he talked to the teens, and she was about to row away again as she saw him rowing toward her.

"Mabel," Mermando warned, "we can't wait."

She gulped. "Yeah. You're right. I need to take the herbs."

She started rowing again, Mermando pushing the boat to go faster.

"Mabel!" Dipper cried. "Wait! It's-"

Something drowned out his voice. Mabel looked back and he was gone.

'Must've gone back,' she thought to herself, rowing toward the waterfall.

...

"Mabel!" Dipper cried, rowing hastily toward her. He was breathing hard. Behind him, he could hear Wendy screaming something, but he ignored her. "Wait! It's-"

"Watch out!" he could hear Wendy say now.

Something knocked over his canoe. He plunged into the water, trying to make his way to the surface. Then, suddenly, he wasn't underwater anymore.

"Ah, Pine Tree," Bill said, the only light in a dark room.

"Wha-What do you want?" Dipper asked, attempting to be brave.

"Oh, nothing much," Bill said, twirling a cane. "Just to annihilate your family."

"You won't get away with this!"

Bill laughed. "It's not like you can do anything about it."

"Where am I?"

Bill smirked. "I'm going off to take care of your sister."

"Don't touch her!" Dipper began scanning the room to find anything. He found the wall behind him and the chains attached to the wall and his ankles, but nothing else.

"Oh, my partner has told me not to hurt her if I didn't have to. Luckily for me, she's a fighter!" He laughed as a bright light surrounded him. Dipper averted his eyes, and when he looked back, Bill was gone.

"Okay," he said, breathing hard. "Gotta get out."

The chains allowed him to stand and walk around. He felt along the walls and found he was in a small room. His clothes weren't soaked, despite being in the water. He felt a rat run over his shoe and stifled a scream.

Finally, he found the light. Flicking it on, a lightbulb dimly lit a concrete room. No doors, no windows.

"Oh, no," Dipper muttered.

…

Mabel rowed the boat behind the waterfall, getting soaked but laughing in the process.

"I'll get the herbs," Mabel said. She kneeled next to the plant, hesitating.

Mermando seemed nervous, looking around. "What's wrong? Aren't you going to take it?"

"Well," she said, "uh… Maybe I was too quick to decide… I mean, Dipper is my brother and he's always been kind…"

Nevertheless, she plucked the herbs. Mermando handed her the cup. Mabel stirred the herbs into it, but just watched the water for a while.

"What are you waiting for?" Mermando asked.

Mabel gulped. "Maybe I should talk to Dipper first…"

Mermando anxiously looked toward the ceiling. "Please, Mabel, for your sake-"

"For my sake?" she asked quietly. "What do you mean?"

He gulped. "Well… uh…"

Mabel laid on her stomach to face him. She took both his hands.

"What?" she said gently. "You can tell me."

He sighed, not meeting her eyes. "Very well. Before we met tonight, before I sent that bottle, somebody visited me."

"Who?"

"I don't know. But they threatened me to keep you away from your brother, or you would be killed. When you found the thing about the herbs in your brother's journal, he visited me again and told me to convince you to take four herbs." He covered his face with his hands. "I'm sorry."

"Mermando," she said, "I'm not mad. But who visited you?"

"I said I don't know."

"Describe him."

Mermando lifted his face up and thought for a moment. "He was a triangle. Yellow as the coral in the sea."

Mabel groaned and shot up. "Of course! Just when I think everything is going well, Bill intervenes!"

"Bill?"

Mabel sighed and explained quickly to Mermando as fast and brief as she could.

"Interesting," he said.

"Merman!" someone cried. A bright light filled the room, and when it had subsided, Bill was floating in the room. "You were supposed to keep quiet!"

Mermando shuttered. "I… I…" He took a deep breath. "I had to protect my Mabel."

"Go away, Bill!" Mabel cried. "We defeated you once, and we can do it again!"

Bill laughed. "Oh, Shooting Star, you're a riot! Merman, I'm done with you."

"What?" Mermando asked, but before he could say anything else, a whirlpool appeared under him and sucked him in.

"Mermando!" Mabel screamed.


	4. Chapter 4

_[You guys! More reviews! Thanks:) You guys rock:) Favorite and follow me? ;) God bless!]_

…

While Dipper was feeling the walls for a secret door, he heard someone fall and cry out in shock. Water splashed him.

"Hello?" Dipper called to the darkness.

"Dipper?" He recognized that voice.

"Mermando?"

"Where are we? I am in water, but it is darkness."

Dipper crawled along the floor to the middle of the room. He had only ventured against the walls, so he hadn't noticed the little pond.

"I don't know," Dipper admitted. After and awkward moment of silence, he crawled back and slumped against a wall. The light had long gone out and the darkness could be cut with a knife.

"What happened to Mabel?" Dipper asked.

Mermando shook his head. "I don't know. The one called 'Bill' sent me here."

Dipper covered his face. "How will I ever fix this?"

…

"Then bring her in!" Gideon demanded.

Bill smirked, waved his hand, and Mabel fell from the ceiling onto the floor.

"Awe," Gideon said, "my marshmalla. Did Bill hurt you?"

Gideon reached to stroke Mabel's hair, but she smacked him away. "Back off, Gideon! What did you do to my brother?!"

"What he deserved," Gideon said darkly.

"Where is he?" Mabel screamed.

"Only where you'll never find him!" Bill cried. "I locked him in a dream! That way, he doesn't have his journal and YOU can't get to him!"

"Mabel," Gideon said, trying to take her hands. She pulled away. "You can be my queen, and when I destroy your dastardly uncle, we can rule over Gravity Falls!"

"I wouldn't want the entire world if I'd have to have it with you!" Mabel cried. "Plus… uh… you're a jerk!"

Gideon laughed. "You'll change your mind. Bill!"

Bill made the chair he had been reclining on while they were arguing disappear.

"Put Mabel where the other two are!" Gideon cried.

Bill snapped his fingers, completely bored with these events, and Mabel disappeared.

…

Mabel screamed as she tumbled into the room. She expected to hit concrete, but instead landed on a person.

"Mermando?" she asked.

"No," Dipper said, "it's me, Mabel."

"Eww!" Mabel cried, scrambling off of him.

"Mabel," Mermando said, "I am here, too!"

She crawled over to him to avoid accidentally slipping into the water.

"How do we get out of this?" Dipper muttered, pulling his hat over his eyes.

The light suddenly flickered on. The twins looked at each other for the first time that day without anger, but their expressions were full of worry surrounding the situation and each other. Mermando watched Mabel worryingly, too.

"Well," Bill said, coming down from the ceiling, "it seems you're all united again."

"Let us go!" Dipper demanded.

Bill laughed. "Do you even know where you are? You can't control me!"

Mabel gasped, remembering what Bill had said earlier. She crawled over to where Dipper was sitting and said under her breath, "We're in a dream."

Dipper looked at her, surprised, then nodded, obviously narrowing down a million different plans he had to escape. That was one thing Mabel was jealous of, she thought to herself. No matter how dire the situation, how angry Dipper was at her, he could concentrate and solve the problem.

"Here's the deal," Bill said, "Gideon and I have agreed to share the wealth when we destroy your uncle and get the journals."

"No!" Mabel screamed.

"However," he said, "Gideon made me promise not to harm Mabel. So, if you take all four herbs, you can go with Mermando and live happily ever after."

"Mabel," Mermando said, "you'll die otherwise. Do it!"

Mabel looked from him to Bill several times being saying, "What about Dipper?"

Bill waved it off. "He'll perish with Stanford."

Silence filled the air and the tension could be felt all around them. Except for Bill, of course, who was enjoying his own suspense before his plan came all together.

"I'll give you some time to decide," Bill said. "I'm a nice guy."

He laughed as he went back through the ceiling.

"Mabel, just go," Dipper said. "You'll live."

"Don't say that!" she cried. "You said it yourself… We can't abandon family for love."

Mermando watched them curiously.

"No," Dipper said, "but if this really is a dream…"

He looked down at his palm, concentrated for a second, and it burst into flames.

"Okay," he said excitedly, "you go with Mermando, making it seem to Bill that we're going along, and when he's gone, I'll break out and go find Stan."

"Excuse me for interrupting," Mermando said, "but how do you break out of a dream?"

"He's right, Dipper," Mabel said. "You only can if the dreamer wakes up. And we don't know who the dreamer is."

"I'll break out," Dipper decided, "and based on the dream's landscape I'll figure out who's it is. Then… I'll somehow force the person to wake up. Besides, we've been in here hours, whoever it is can't be sleeping for much longer."

…

Outside of the dreamworld the twins and Mermando were in, Gravity Falls was sleeping in the middle of the night. The sun wouldn't rise for another hour. Creatures could be heard in the forest, manotaurs screaming in the mancaves, and the Gremoblin growling at his prey. It was a normal night for any resident.

That is, except for Wendy.

She had demanded Thompson drive everyone back to the Mystery Shack. Normally, the teens would make fun of her, but it was something in the urgency in her voice that made them be quiet.

When they reached her workplace, she didn't even say goodbye but slammed the van door open and raced inside.

"Mr. Pines!" she screamed, rushing into the living room, where he had fallen asleep watching TV.

But not matter how hard she tried, he wouldn't wake.


	5. Chapter 5

_[More reviews :D I love you guys. Follow and favorite me? :3 Thanks for the support. If you have any ideas, PM me and I may be able to incorporate them (no promises but I'll try). Okay, story:3 God bless!]_

…

"Well?" Bill asked, floating in. "Have you made your decision?"

Mabel looked at Dipper one last time to make sure he was serious, then nodded. She sat next to Mermando with her legs in the pool. Bill waved his arm and a cup appeared in her hand. She gulped, mixed the four herbs into it, then chugged it down.

Bill laughed. "See ya later!"

Mermando and Mabel started glowing, then floated into the air and spun around. Mermando cried out in shock, but Mabel laughed. Dipper smiled at her but sighed inwardly. He prayed this would work.

After they left, Bill took a deep breath and faced toward Dipper. "I'll be back for you later. First I have to attend to some things with my partner."

"Who's your partner?" Dipper demanded. He had his fists clenched in fear and anger.

Bill waved it off. "You'll know soon enough." He started to glow brightly. Dipper covered his eyes. "Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!"

Dipper settled back against the wall. He made a fire appear. After watching the flames lick his palm, he made it grow bigger, then float in midair in the center of the room so he could see.

"I'm coming, Mabel," he said.

…

"Now it's time to get Stan," Gideon said, grinning. "That ol' man will have to give me those journals when we're done with him!"

"What's your plan?" Bill asked.

Gideon didn't hear him. He was staring at the pictures of Mabel attached to the back of his door.

"Where is she?" he asked quietly.

Bill groaned. "You really need to con-"

"Where is she?!" he screamed.

Bill threw his hands up. "Sheesh, calm down. She's with Mermando."

"No!" Gideon cried. "I want that merman out of my way! I still have a chance with Mabel!"

Bill thought for a moment before answering, "Alright, I think I can handle it."

…

"Wow," Mabel gasped, swimming alongside Mermando. She approached the mermaid/merman realm, watching the brightly colored coral and mermaid children play. Mer-parents called for them to come inside.

"What's going on?" Mabel asked. Before she could say anything else, Mermando grabbed her arm and yanked her toward a house, screaming, "Get down!"

She swam awkwardly (despite the practice she had had earlier, she wasn't the expert with a mermaid tail yet) toward the house Mermando was pulling her to. They burst inside and slammed the door.

Mabel looked at Mermando's worried expression. "Wha-"

"Shhh!" he cried. "Sorry, but do not speak."

She nodded and watched out the window. Something big and frightening passed by. It was scaly and roared deafeningly. When it passed, mer-people slowly emerged from their hiding places. Within minutes, children were playing and parents were working again.

"Everything just went back to normal," Mabel observed. "Is this… normal?"

Mermando nodded grimly. "Unfortunately. It is the Gobblewonker."

"But I thought the Gobblewonker was only in the Gravity Falls Lake?"

He shook his head. "No, its children haunt the seas where we live."

Mabel silently watched the children play.

'I thought this was paradise,' she thought.

…

Dipper had thought of several ways to break out: make his fists grow big and smash the wall, but then he may break his hands; acid rain, but then he may hurt himself in the process; erode the walls, but that could take forever.

"This is a dream," he said to himself. "I can do anything."

A hole appeared in the wall. Dipper smirked at himself for not thinking up the simple solution sooner, then stepped out and examined the dreamer's mind.

"It's not Stan," he said to himself. Stan's mind was black-and-white and consisted of the Mystery Shack with all his dreams, fears, etc. inside. This dreamer's mind was colorful, but mostly pink and purple. A mansion full of color was in front of him. He opened the door with ease. Inside, it was like the Mystery Shack in Stan's mind: fears, dreams, memories, etc., but these were different than his memories and such.

'Fears,' Dipper thought. If he knew the person's fears, he could induce a nightmare to wake whoever it was up.

He entered the hallways labeled so. Immediately, it grew colder. Dipper shivered and rubbed his arms but kept going.

Scenes of money burning flashed by several times. A family homeless. Having to go _near _the homeless. Clearly this person was greedy. There was even a scene of a poor man asking for money and the dreamer turning them away, screaming in fear that the man may touch her. Dipper shook his head, not wanting to be in this person's mind much longer.

Suddenly, somewhere behind him, he heard his sister laugh.

"Mabel?!" he cried in disbelief. He turned, but instead of his sister it was a scene of her, burning the mansion and laughing. She held up a wad of cash. "I win," she stated.

Dipper heard Mabel's voice again and turned to see another scene of her. She was sitting on a throne. "I am the ruler of Gravity Falls!" she cried. Mabel looked straight at the dreamer. "You are not needed anymore. Go." Some guards dragged the dreamer away.

Dipper got chills. He loved his sister, for sure, but the thought of her ruling Gravity Falls gave even him nightmares.

_[Who is this dreamer? Let me hear who you think in the comments below! And be sure to send ideas in! God bless my lovely fans! (Oh, I need a fandom name... Let me think on this XD)]_


	6. Chapter 6

_[Hey my lovely fans! So I've come up with two fandoms from two stage-names I have: Jasanians (from Jasana, pronouced Jase-an-knee-ans) and Annaomians (from Annaomi, pronouced Anna-naomi-ans). Which one do you like? Peace, God bless!]_

...

"Would you calm down?" Bill muttered as Gideon went spastic again. "You'll never be able to destroy the Pines acting like this all the time."

Gideon kicked his dresser again, then leaned against it and took a deep breath. "You failed me again!"

Bill waved it off. "They hid, so what? This is easy."

"I can fire you if you don't cooperate!"

Bill laughed. "You need me! I'm a demon, one of time and space! There's no way you'd be able to get your vengeance on them without me!"

Gideon cried out in frustration, then took a deep breath again. "You're right. But try harder!"

Bill grinned. "Of course, short-stack. The merman will be dead."

"And you won't harm Mabel?"

"Not a hair on her head."

"Good. Go, demon!"

...

Mabel poked at her food on the table as Mermando's family laughed and joked around. As his mother began to clean up, he asked, "You've barely eaten. Are you okay?"

She shrugged, handing her plate to his mom. Seaweed sandwiches, coral cake, and starfish stew weren't exactly her taste.

"Mabel," Mermando said. She looked up to see him beckoning her to follow him outside. "Why don't we go see the gardens? They're beautiful, more mystical than human gardens, and you'll love it."

She grinned. "A garden? Sounds awesome!"

He led her by hand across the town. Below, children were still playing, but other than that all was quiet. Too quiet for Mabel's taste.

As they approached the garden, Mabel gasped. "It's gorgeous!"

Mermando shifted as much as a merman could in the water. "I... uh... planted it for you."

"Mermando!" Mabel cried, shoving him playfully. "You scallywag!" He rubbed his arm and blushed a little, grinning.

The garden was full of colors. The coral was arranged like a pig under a rainbow, of course amusing Mabel to the fullest extent.

"I never want to leave!" she cried. In her heart, however, she knew this was just a burst of excitement. In reality, she missed the Mystery Shack more than anything in the world.

...

Dipper visited Pacifica's memories next to see if he could find anything useful there. Most of it was her bragging about being rich, being a brat to Mabel (and a few other girls he didn't know), and partying with her friends on her parents' money. Eventually, he found a door labeled "Mabel Memories". He shoved the door open and dust flew everywhere, making him cough. As he walked, his shoes left prints in the dust on the floor, signalling this room was shoved aside. Pacifica did not only dislike Mabel, she was afraid of her and the simple thought of her was pushed aside.

Clearly, this was where Dipper needed to be.

If he could induce a memory or fear of Mabel somehow into Pacifica's mind, then he could force her to wake up out of fear. Subconsciously, he reached into his vest to pull out his journal, but it wasn't there. He couldn't pull it out in a dream. Where could he get it?

Immediately, he knew, and sped off, looking at every memory in Pacifica's mind.

...

Gideon, assuming it would be a while until Bill came back, decided to go to the Mystery Shack in disguise to check out how Stan was holding up. His twin relatives had now been missing for twenty-four hours, so he would've noticed.

"Father!" Gideon cried, bursting out of the room in a ridiculous outfit that was too big for him. At least no one would recognize him... he hoped.

"Yes?" Mr. Gleeful looked up from the TV show he was watching.

"Take me to the Mystery Shack!" he demanded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, darling," he laughed, "but I have a busload of people coming to buy cars in a few minutes."

Gideon cried out and threw the remote on the table in frustration. "Fine! I'll take the bus! I'll need to look good when I get there..."

He slammed the door as he walked out. His mother shivered in fright.

...

Wendy couldn't wake Stan up because he had taken sleep medicine, but that also meant she hadn't been able to tell him about the twins, as she had gone off to vacation. Stan watched out the kitchen window in his suit, waiting for tourists, assuming the twins were in their room.

Hoping, more like it; he was a fan of personal space, so he wouldn't go into theirs, but he hadn't seen them around, either.

Eventually, a bus of tourists (all naive) all arrived. Stan swung the Shack's door open, saying, "Welcome to a world of mystery!"

The tourists fell for every trick he and Soos had come up with, except for one in the back. It was a short man, wearing clothes too big for him, just being silent and watching. Stan thought he heard him mutter and laugh to himself every once in a while, but he was too distracted with the demanding tourists to notice too much. When the tour was over, the guests shopped. As always, Tyler (who for some reason came once a week) stood in the corner, debating on two different items. Soos swept dirt under the rug as Stan had taught him to do, and a couple argued over what to get their child for his birthday.

Same as always.

As Stan rang up the last item and called to the tourists, "We put the fun in 'No Refunds'!", he looked around. Soos had long finished sleeping, and despite the fact that he wanted to stay, Stan had made him go home. The guests had all bought something worthless and left too happily with it. Stan thought he was the only one left, until the little man came up to him.

"Hello," he said in a voice too gruff to be normal, "I was just wondering... I thought I saw some kids here earlier?"

Stan watched him curiously. "Are you gonna buy something? 'Cuz if you're not, you can just leave."

The man just stood there. "Aren't you wondering where they are?"

Stan backed away a little. "Why? I-I mean, who are you?"

The man laughed, and in anger, Stan swiped the man's hat off his head, revealing Gideon.

"Where are they?" he demanded.

"Oh, Stanford!" Gideon cried, laughing so hard he had to grab his sides. "I had you going for a while there!"

"Answer me!"

Gideon leaned forward on the desk. "Give me the deed to the Shack - or the journals - and I'll give them back to you. Just leave it in my mailbox. If you don't, I'll steal the deed _and_ the journals anyway, _and _I'll eliminate your niece and nephew, along with you!"

"Journals?" Stan asked, looking truly confused.

"If they're not in my mailbox by tomorrow at midnight, then I will make sure no member of the Pines family is left!"

He left the Shack cackling.

Stan put his head in his hands. He knew about the journals. Gideon knew about the journals. And now there was no hiding it anymore.


	7. Chapter 7

_**[No reviews, guys? What's with that? Is this not interesting anymore? Here's a short one... If nobody is interested, I'll put in an ending. Please answer honestly. God bless!]**_

"Soos!" Stan called, running outside.

Soos ran toward him, dropping his broom. When he came close, he paused to catch his breath from the ten feet he had sprinted, then asked, "Wassup, Mr. Pines?"

"Have you seen the kids?" He attempted to seem calm and collected, but anger boiled inside of him, threatening to pour over.

Soos thought for a moment, then answered, "No, but have you checked their room?"

Stan smirked. Of course he had; after Gideon had left, he had searched every room in the house, _including under the vending machine and in the portal_, but they were nowhere to be found, leading him to believe the Gideon wasn't lying.

"Thanks, Soos," Stan muttered, wandering toward his car. They were always investigating some strange being or event of Gravity Falls, so he thought Gideon was just trying to freak him out. He drove into town, going on every street twice and every street-corner three times.

The twins weren't there.

...

Dipper rushed into Pacifica's memory of Pioneer Day and ran up to himself, crying, "Give me your journal!"

The other Dipper looked at him curiously, then slowly backed away. "Are you some type of doppelganger?"

"Whoa!" Mabel cried, poking Dipper. "Dipper, you have a copy!"

"Look," Dipper said, "the real Mabel - my Mabel - is in trouble and I need to use the journal!"

"But I'm right here," Mabel said, dancing around.

"The Mystery Shack will be burnt down," Dipper said patiently.

The other Dipper watched him, then slowly handed him the journal. Dipper ran out, excited.

...

Pacifica jerked awake, crying out and breathing hard.

"Why did I dream about Dipper?" she wondered, sickened. She shook it off and picked up her phone.

"Gideon," she said when he picked up, "I'm awake. Why did you want me to call you?"

Gideon cried out in frustration, then said, "Just don't worry about it."

"But-"

Gideon hung up.


	8. Chapter 8

_**[Hello my lovely Jasanians. Long time no write... Sorry... Anyway... Enjoy... God bless!]**_

Stan had given up.

He drove to Gideon's house with all three journals. What else could he do?

Nothing, as far as he could tell.

Instead of dropping them in the mailbox, however, he went right up to the house and banged on the door. "Gideon, you little punk, GET OUT HERE!" The disturbing child peeked through the peephole before opening the door.

"Standford!" he said. "What a nice surprise. Oh, the journals!"

He reached for them, but Stan yanked them back. "Not until you give me the twins."

Gideon smirked, but motioned for Stan to follow him into the house. Inside, he led him to his room and pulled out a giant list.

"Read it," he said, tossing it violently toward Stan.

Stan read through it carefully. "I suppose you found my weak spot. But... who's Bill?"

Stan was lying, of course. He knew very well who Bill was. The very name gave him chills. He was haunted by it with every piece of cash, every one-eyed thing, every person who was named so.

Gideon snapped his fingers. Bill instantly appeared, scowling immediately at Stan.

"Stanford," he said, anger flowing through each of his words, "we meet again..."

"Give me the kids back!" Stan cried.

Bill laughed. Oh, how he enjoyed the annoyed expression on Stan's face!

"No can do," he said.

"Why not?!"

"Well," Bill said, pacing in midair, "for one, your nephew is stuck in a dream..."

"About that," Gideon said sheepishly, "Pacifica... woke up..."

Bill turned toward Gideon, clearly enraged. "What do you mean? Voluntarily?"

"No, it appears he escaped..."

Bill cried out in frustration, then immediately calmed himself down. "Then where is he?"

"Probably at the bottom of the lake. Isn't that where you sent him into the dream? At the lake?"

...

Dipper surfaced above the water, panting and treading water. It was daylight now, he saw. In the distance, he could see the teens' empty pop bottles and plastic wrappers strewn everywhere. Behind him, he saw the waterfall his sister had so hastily escaped from him to. That seemed like an eternity ago, when in actuality, it had been the night before.

"Mabel," Dipper called out, half testing his voice and half to see if she answered.

She didn't.

She was with Mermando in his home-place, probably eating underwater cuisine and gawking at graceful fish and dancing with Mermando under moonlit water.

Dipper missed her.

He missed the one he told all his secrets to, the one he depended on to make him happy, the one who was constantly obnoxious but never intentionally hurt anyone. He missed his best friend.

In his heart, he knew he couldn't ask her to come back. She was obviously having the time of her life with her boyfriend, right?

...

Mabel laughed as she hid behind a bush as Mermando counted. She peered over it until he had finished, crying, "Ready or not, here I come!", then she ducked back down, giggling.

That's when she thought she saw Dipper.

Mabel did a double-take, and it turned out to be a random passing mer-child. She sighed in disappointment. She wanted to go home to her brother. As much as she hated to admit it, she really missed him. Dipper had always been there for her, supported her in every decision, never let her down.

"I found you!" Mermando cried, snapping Mabel out of her thoughts. She shakily stood up and half-grinned.

"Yay," she said half-heartedly.

"What is wrong?" Mermando asked, concern drawn all over his face.

"Nothing," she said a little lighter, hoping he would believe her, but the concern didn't leave his face. "Oh, Mermando, I can't lie to you… I'm homesick."

"Why, Mabel, home is right across town!"

"No, I mean the Mystery Shack and Stan and Soos and Wendy and Dipper!"

Mermando was silent for a moment, then answered, "I do not wish for you to leave, but I cannot bear to see you so upset, either. Come, we will take you home."

Mabel perked up. "Really?"

Mermando nodded.

Mabel grinned. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She grinned and hugged him.

...

Bill cried out again. "You have failed me, Gideon!"

Gideon stumbled back in fright. "What about Mabel? She's still with Mermando!"

Bill floated to the floor with his eyes shut. He was concentrating on something, flashing different colors every second with scenes of Mermando and Mabel. The pictures stopped on them hugging. Bill's eyes opened, he turned back to his normal color, and he screamed at Gideon, "She's trying to come back!"

Gideon fell against the wall. "What do you mean?! They were hugging! Isn't that what couples do? She's happy there!"

"She's homesick! Why didn't you consider this?"

Gideon stood up, anger showing in his red cheeks. "Why didn't I consider this? ME?! You're the supernatural demon here! Shouldn't YOU be the mastermind?"

Bill shook his head. "Never send a human to do a demon's job."

Stan stood there quietly, watching Bill and Gideon argue. While he was taking guilty pleasure in it, still, he now knew where his nephew was and was determined to go find him. Slowly, Stan snuck out, chuckling at his two enemies screaming at each other.

He got into his car and sped downtown toward the lake, ignoring every road sign and car safety law (not that that was any different than usual). His car almost rolled over as he hit the brakes so fast when he reached the lake. It left marks where grass had regrown from his last visit here. Stan stumbled out of his car, looking frantically around for Dipper.

...

Dipper gasped as he finally reached the shore. He collapsed onto the sand, staring up at the clouds, planning his next moves to find Stan and stop Bill from whatever he was planning to do.

He finally gained enough strength back to stand up and start walking toward the Mystery Shack. In the distance, he heard a sound that threw him off. It was tires screeching toward the lake, and then a car burst out of some trees and landed a couple hundred feet from him. A man stumbled out, looking around with worry written all over his face.

Dipper recognized that man.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper screamed, running toward him.

Stan focused his attention on him for a second, and then gasped. "Dipper, get over here!"

Dipper grinned. Despite the fact that his grunkle sounded completely irate, he knew he was happy.


	9. Chapter 9

"How am I going to get home?" These were Mabel's first words when she woke up the next morning. She looked around and discovered she had fallen asleep on the floor of the spare bedroom at Mermando's home. Thinking for a moment, she remembered that she had planned with him all night on how to get home. Mermando knew when the fishing boats from Gravity Falls came in, so they would purposely get caught and be shipped to the town Mabel missed so much. Mermando would be left in the lake, since he was able to find his own way home, and Mabel would somehow become human again.

That part worried her most. She had taken all four herbs, making her a permanent mermaid. How would she become human again? Mabel was sure Dipper would know. But would Dipper still be mad at her? Would he want to help her? She had abandoned him for Mermando...

At the same time, she thought, he had abandoned her for Wendy. However, the more she thought of it, the more the image of Dipper rowing frantically toward her became burned into her brain. At the bottom of her heart, she knew Dipper cared, knew he never meant to hurt her.

Mabel yawned and stretched, then swam toward Mermando's room. The door was open, so she went right in. He was staring at a picture of them together and jumped when he saw her, quickly hiding the frame.

"Mabel," he said, "I did not realize you were awake."

Mabel rubbed her arm nervously. "Yeah, I am. Are you ready to go?"

Mermando looked her up and down. "Are you sure you wish to do this? I mean, there is so much here! You loved the coral garden, and there are many more gardens that are more beautiful! There is underwater cuisine only the purest of hearts could enjoy - including you! You could-"

Mabel put her hand on his. "Mermando, I've made my decision."

He nodded. "Then we shall go as soon as we eat breakfast."

...

"So that's it, huh?" Stan said, sipping his coffee thoughtfully.

Dipper nodded. "Yeah. And even if Mabel comes back, I doubt she'll forgive me, let alone let me turn her human again."

"How would you do that?" Stan asked, attempting to seem uninterested but instead of the edge of his seat.

"Remember that journal I showed you?" Dipper asked. "Where you took it away to use for your attractions?" Normally he'd be irate about it, but instead he was only focused on getting his sister. "I need it back, at least just for this. Everything written in it is true."

Stan stared at Dipper for a moment. Dipper thought he'd laugh in his face, or scold his imagination, or accuse him of being up too late watching TV, but instead Stan said, "I know."

"You know?!"

"Yeah, I'd been looking for those journals for years. And I had yours."

"Oh, really? Okay, great! We can - you said 'had'."

Stan got up to do dishes and avoid eye-contact. "Yeah, I did."

"Why? What happened?"

"Nothing, I just don't have it anymore."

"Grunkle Stan, getting the journal is the only way to get Mabel back!"

"I know, kid, I know! It's just... Gideon has 'em. I had to trade them for your safety. So if you want your sister back, you're gonna have to go get 'em."

Dipper wanted to be angry at him, but the fact that he had traded the journals for his safety made him happy. He knew his grunkle loved him, but sometimes, it didn't seem like it.

"Well," he said, standing up, "I guess I'm off to Gideon's, then."

He adjusted his hat and set out with his head held high.

...

The scene from the night before flashed through Gideon's nightmares as he slept.

"You're the supernatural being!" Gideon had screamed at Bill. "_You _convince Mabel not to return!"

Bill floated thoughtfully, pacing in his own way. Gideon waited impatiently for him to make up his mind, tapping his fingers on his desk. Apparently this annoyed Bill, who shot a laser beam out of his eyes at his hand, just missing it. Gideon cried out and fell back in surprise. "Demon!"

Bill shrugged. "Naming what I am is no offense, kid. Now quit!"

Gideon quickly took his hand off his desk, muttering curses under his breath. "Make up your mind already! What are we doing about Mabel?"

The demon looked straight at Gideon and said, "Do not snap at me."

Gideon flipped his desk. "I can talk to you however I want! Now tell me!"

Bill's eyes flared dangerously for a second, then faded. He stared at Gideon, then muttered, "I don't need a human child to help me in my plans." He started coming toward Gideon, who backed away in fear.

"W-what do you mean?" he stuttered.

Bill laughed, making a flame appear in his hands and playing with it. "I mean, I don't _need_ you. You're just the labor force. The manager is still here and I can replace you like this." He snapped his fingers when he said "this" and a second Gideon appeared. The second Gideon looked around, rubbed his arms like he was making sure he was real, then smirked evilly and started toward the real Gideon.

The real Gideon screamed in horror. "Alright! Don't touch me!"

Bill laughed in his disturbing nature and snapped his fingers again, making the fake Gideon incinerate. The real Gideon flinched at the sight of it.

"Now," Bill said, "what are _you_ going to do about Mabel?"

Gideon woke with a start, gripping his pillow furiously. He released his grip and took deep breaths, looking around his room to make sure Bill didn't appear to... neutralize him. The fear of it now coursed through his veins, made his blood turn cold, sweat drip in buckets off his forehead.

He laid back down, staring at his ceiling.

It would be a long night.


End file.
